DIY Zigbee Rain Gauge for Home Assistant

[@ArranAsh]

Just came back to say that after 5 months my gauge is still working perfectly even after some extremely heavy rain storms and pretty deep snow build up. Battery is also still at 70%! Thank you very much for the design!

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Thank you so much for your comment! That’s really great to hear! I’m glad everything’s working fine with the Rain Gauge after five months. Honestly, you’ve been using it longer than I ever have! :) I installed the WiFi version myself, and it’s been trouble-free too, but the battery for sure lasts longer on Zigbee version.

[@mikealport2065]

I also went through a very similar development cycle for my rain gauge. Initially I used a 3D printed tipping bucket, with a mains powered ESP01 running Tasmota to count tips triggered by a magnet placed close to a reed switch. Your much simpler solution to rather use a Zigbee door switch is a stroke of genius.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Your device definitely worked too, and that's the most important thing when building anything! :)

[@rasssta]

This is really awesome. Was hesitant to build the pcb edition due to the fact that I don't have power available where I want the meter and I haven't built anything 18650 powered. and/or solar powered, or similar before. But being able to place this anywhere I got zigbee coverage is just a home run. The battery life in the Aqara sensors is amazing. Lasts 2 years, no problem. Built one meter already and the next one is being printed at the moment. Thanks a lot!

[@ArranAsh]

Done and built! It hasn't rained yet however everything went together really well. One thing I noticed is if the device becomes unavailable, when it comes back online it counts a closed signal in the history, I found subtracting the total 'unavailable' states from the sensor's history from the total on/off count fixed this problem. Overall a very fun project, many thanks for the design!

[@johfo]

How did you do that? I see that it counts on HA reboot as well

[@tcflint]

Can I see your config? my setup stopped working with some breaking changes in HA

[@ArranAsh]

@@tcflint I've tried posting a link to my config a few times but my comment keeps getting auto deleted, sorry.

[@tcflint]

@ArranAsh can you email or post somewhere else

[@ArranAsh]

@@tcflint template: - sensor: - name: Rainfall state_class: measurement unique_id: rainfall_24h unit_of_measurement: mm icon: mdi:weather-pouring state: >- {% set on_count = states('sensor.aqara_rainsensor_flips_on') | int(0) %} {% set off_count = states('sensor.aqara_rainsensor_flips_off') | int(0) %} {% set unavailable_count = states('sensor.aqara_rainsensor_flips_unavailable') | int(0) %} {% set unknown_count = states('sensor.aqara_rainsensor_flips_unknown') | int(0) %} {% set total_flips = on_count + off_count - unavailable_count - unknown_count - 1 %} {% set mm = total_flips * 0.52615 %} {% if total_flips >= 0 %} {{ mm | round(1, 'floor') }} {% else %} 0 {% endif %}

[@wayneyeo186]

A very clever way of using a door sensor to accumulate data ! Well Done !

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Thanks!

[@timderks5960]

Finally an affordable smart rain gauge, amazing work!

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Thanks!

[@matbreg8836]

Thank you for sharing the rain gauge. I have now downloaded your files and hope to print this soon. :)😀😀😀😀

[@philb1466]

I'm late to the party .. as usual! 🙄 But got here from your excellent wind gauge video. This is another great video! Oh! And you get extra marks for showing your working out (hand written calculations) 😅

[@martijndelmeer]

Question, why doesn't reset the rain meter to 0mm at the end of the day. Now every day starts with 0.5mm of rain. comperred my code several times but can't find where it goes wrong. When I stop de video I see one difference in your code compared to the code shared in the tutorial. For template > sensor your shared code says "state_class: measurement" but the video says "state_class: total_increasing" but none of these seem to do the job right. Any help would really be appreciated.

[@KhangWei]

likewise, the starting point for me in a new day is 0.5mm of rain. i have put the start and end as start: "{{ now().replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0)}}" end: "{{ now() }}" anyone has a clue?

[@wojciechracek4446]

@@KhangWei Also looking for an answer, same issue here.

[@gszah]

Same here, but every day starts with a different amount of rain 😅

[@toetie2019]

Did you ever find a solution to this?

[@marine1718]

Hello can't download stl site isn't sending email

[@denver3718]

I built your zigbee rain guage. First, it's great. Thank you for creating such a cool design. However, I'm having one issue with the code. The History Stats "flips/on" / "flip/off" sensor seems to count the first state in the 24 hour time period. Like, if it has not rained at all, and the contact sensor was "off" the whole time, History Stats counts that as "off", and the template sensor shows ".5mm". Is this how it's worked for you as well? How do I get around this? Thank you for any help you can offer.

[@carstenhll9640]

Hi, anywhere i can download the files, they look amazing. the signing up on your home page does not seem to to do the trick any longer?

[@wilhelmspeck5870]

Hi, thanks so much for this great project. I built it the last 2 days and it seems to run perfectly. I am still struggeling a bit with the HA code but I am confident I will fix it. Thanks again. Cheers

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Good to hear! :) What's your issue with code in HA? Maybe I can help?

[@wilhelmspeck5870]

I just wanted to add sensors like in your Wlan gauge which show last hour, last day, last week etc. Cheers

[@MechThumbs]

So Smart dude love these types of videos with good engineering! love to see it. can't wait for you to get more subscribers, i wanna see what you do next!!!!

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I have a plethora of ideas for the next projects; I just need to find the time, and then I can create :)

[@MechThumbs]

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Same here, trying to learn PCB design for a project. It's hard to just sit down and take the time to do it. You've already got this amazing channel. All you got to do is show us those amazing products that you would want to make for yourself!

[@fins5150]

Awesome even better solution. Glad I haven't printed out yet

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Are you referring to the previous version of the Rain Gauge with the ESP32? It has its merits, but I'm glad you like the newer version! :)

[@johfo]

Great idea and tutorial! Thanks!!! I adapted it slightly to work with an IKEA PARASOLL door sensor, driven by a AAA-battery. However, the platform + template sensors + the mini-graph card makes it display rainfall per rolling 24 hour period, so right now it's from 22:10 today back to 22:10 yesterday. That makes rainfall/day decrease during the day when it stopps raining... Is it possible to make it per day instead (00:00-23:59) and display last 7 or 14 days? I also tried to make an extra platform+template sensor to display per hour, but now when it has not been raining for about 8 hours, it shows 0.5mm/h for last 8 hours..and I don't understand why... Made it like this: - platform: history_stats name: "Regn Contact Flips/Dry_hour" entity_id: binary_sensor.regn_contact state: "off" type: count start: "{{ now() - timedelta(hours=1)}}" end: "{{ now() }}" - platform: history_stats name: "Regn Contact Flips/Wet_hour" entity_id: binary_sensor.regn_contact state: "on" type: count start: "{{ now() - timedelta(hours=1)}}" end: "{{ now() }}" - sensor: - name: Rainfall [hour] state_class: measurement unique_id: rainfall_hour unit_of_measurement: mm icon: mdi:weather-pouring state: >- {% set count = (states('sensor.regn_contact_flips_dry_hour') | int(0)) + (states('sensor.regn_contact_flips_wet_hour') | int(0)) %} {% set mm = count * 0.52615 %} {% if count >= 0 %} {{ mm|round(1, 'floor') }} {% endif %} And a corresponding mini-graph-card like this: type: custom:mini-graph-card icon: mdi:weather-rainy name: Regn/timme aggregate_func: max hours_to_show: 24 group_by: hour show: graph: bar fill: true icon: false color_thresholds: - value: 50 color: '#8a111e' - value: 25 color: '#c7311c' - value: 10 color: '#fc5a43' - value: 4 color: '#fc8582' - value: 2 color: '#fbab3e' - value: 1 color: '#ebf438' - value: 0.5 color: '#79cf3f' - value: 0.2 color: '#24cbcc' - value: 0 color: '#3296de' entities: - entity: sensor.rainfall_hour state_adaptive_color: false Why does this report 0.5mm/h when it has not been raining and the bucket has not moved? Anyone who knows/understands and can explain to me?

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

Great I will be printing this today and I will make a video about this awesome project!

[@zyghom]

one question: where is the sensor: "it is raining now" in both of these devices? I can only see "how much it rained for last...hours/days" - what am I missing?

[@marcelob3869]

I have to measure the rainfall across a farm (about 4km range), which is the best way to transmite the data in such distance?

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

LoraWAN would be the best option here. Look for a door sensor with Lora built in. There are a few available on Amazon or AliExpress.

[@XSpt1]

Great idea, and shared with the community. What a legend this guy is. +1 sub

[@KhangWei]

thank you for this. brilliant. just one question.. if i want to implement a boolean to find out if it is currently raining, what is the best way to approach it with this as well?

[@tcflint]

Is there a yaml update due to changes in home assistant?

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

Hi, I can't seem to import the 3d printer file you supply into my creality slicer, any ideas?

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

All good got it sorted printing underway! Your projects are really cool!

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Thanks, I’m glad you managed to sort it out! :)

[@StereoSatellite]

Is there any chance to get stl files for that? I don't use Fusion3d.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Here: store.smartsolutions4home.com/product/ss4h-zrg-zigbee-rain-gauge-3d-model. You can "buy" the model for $0

[@daveharman888]

Thanks for the amazing video! Printing parts right now. I need to figure out how to change to code for "inches of rain" instead. Does anyone know the easiest way to get the calculations to work with inches?

[@gszah]

I have an issue that every day starts with a different amount of rain?

[@lenapolondu62]

Amazing project! Really easy to follow and largely detailed I had a question regarding the filament type, I used PETG as advised but my feeling is that the funnel is too rough/sticky and tends too form large droplets instead of letting the water fall directly Any feedback on this ? Another small question, where is it possible to easily find 5mL pipette for calibration?

[@At-M]

great idea on how to "misuse" that sensor! i guess it's time to get some filament now..

[@kikmedown]

"Misuse"?

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

hmm.. "misuse" ? :)

[@gszah]

I think he meant as to use the sensor in a way it was not originally meant to be used :)

[@ajinoz1234]

The gauge works well the 3D print is very well designed top job thank you 😊 I have used your yaml code. The only problem I have is that in HA after the 24hour period the flip counter will not reset to zero and each new 24hr (or any period set) will not start from zero and starts with 1 flip count (.5mm rain) Any idea how I can reset the counter to zero at the end of each 24hours period (or any period set) New to HA and yaml a lot to learn :-) Cheers

[@ArranAsh]

Love it, printing the parts now!

[@ghicione]

I saw that all comercial products are white and i was thinking what will happen in the colder months when the water freezes? Will a black funnel help maybe a little? In the summer I guess it will speed up the evaporation, hmm. And, I only have a spool of black PETG right now, oh and a "wet" glow in the dark white PLA.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

That's a good question. I believe it's mainly an aesthetic choice. Besides, during the hotter months, a black enclosure might get very hot and deform. PLA isn't great for humid conditions; I'd recommend you go with PETG instead :)

[@FujiPhotos]

For those who have printed the gauge, what material did you use and how has it held up? I have a new roll of white PLA+ on the shelf but afraid it won't weather as well as PETG. I've haven't printed PETG yet but would rather do it from the start if necessary. Thanks.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

I definitely recommend using PETG. PLA even in its plus version, is significantly more hygroscopic. If you're printing anything that's going to be used outdoors, PETG is a solid choice.

[@FujiPhotos]

​@@SmartSolutionsForHome Thanks for the reply! I bought a roll of PETG and am currently in the process of figuring it out as I've only ever used PLA. One more question, some comments indicated the layer lines in the funnel inhibited all the water draining to the tipping cup. What method of smoothing this surface has been found effective to conduct all the water? Thanks much.

[@jaymarcgasino7625]

Where can I buy that door sensor? And is that available here in Philippines?

[@chunkster29]

Great idea can you buy it fully built currently don't have a 3d printer

[@mikeooo]

Build your great project but have a problem with HA. When i flip the gauge up and down i see the Aquare sensor doing Open/Closed without any problems every time, no matter how fast i do it. But the Flip/on and Flip/off sensor i have to do it very slow or it missing some. Rainfall mm is only counting from Closed state to Open state. Use the code you provide here and also check it with the code in the movie. Cant find why it is not working as it should be.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

For me, it's the same way: the reason lies in the use of the "timedelta" function during configuration. HA actually counts all the bucket tips, but sometimes it takes a moment to register them.

[@mikeooo]

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Aaaaaa indeed now once you know and wait indeed it updates. Thanks for this info. I was searching for day for a solution but i only need to wait.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

@@mikeooo I don't quite get why it happens that way, but what matters most is that it works :) Hopefully, they'll address it in a forthcoming update.

[@XSpt1]

I just wish you would be more beginner friendly on HA integration. I cant get to display on my HA.

[@asek2]

Great Project! I got 2 questions: - Can we have the build as .STL files aswell, Cura cannot read f3d and I do not have Autodesk Fusion 360? - What is the length of the 3mm screws used?

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Ad. 1 Here (store.smartsolutions4home.com/product/ss4h-zrg-zigbee-rain-gauge-3d-model/), you can "purchase" the model for $0 :) Ad. 2 Here, it doesn't really matter that much: around 12mm will be fine.

[@Calimerorulez]

Is there a way to increase the resolution, like a smaller tipping bucket? 0.5 mm rain per tip is a bit high for my needs.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

You can do that without any issues :) That's precisely why I included two calibration screws, allowing you to adjust the amount of water that activates the tipping bucket. At 5ml, the resolution is approximately ~0.5mm. If you were to use, say, 2ml, the resolution would be 0.210452mm. Would that value be acceptable for you?

[@Calimerorulez]

Great! Thank you@@SmartSolutionsForHome

[@ThomasLangewouters]

Hi, very well done, I'm building this as we speak, and I wonder.. has anyone already designed a printable mounting bracket?

[@martijndelmeer]

Yes, finally got it working after an restart off HA so al sensor are created and active. Great work!! Any change you will make an zigbee anemometer?

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

An anemometer is in the plans. And actually, it's already under "development" :) However, I'm planning to go with WiFi and ESPHome.

[@martijndelmeer]

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Great news!!

[@rklauco]

Any chance for the HomeAssistant tutorial? Seems like the project page has it missing at the moment.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Done! :) smartsolutions4home.com/ss4h-zrg-zigbee-rain-gauge/

[@mc_allstar4860]

Hi, thanks so much. This is awesome. Any idea when you going to update the home assistant info on you website? It currently says "Integration with Home Assistant (in progress)"

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Now :) smartsolutions4home.com/ss4h-zrg-zigbee-rain-gauge/

[@haldir234]

Love your work, dude. Keep it up, :) genius idea :)

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

I'm glad you like it!

[@mikaelblomberg3795]

I really love the design, have printed it and set it up, work like a charm, grate work!! 😃 But one question, is it possible to manually reset the rainfall sensor in HA? Have been testing it on my desk so much so now it have rained like 100mm 😝

[@henrikgcarlsson]

I have the same 'problem' mine is always at 0,4mm when there is no rain.

[@henrikgcarlsson]

Did you ever find out a way to reset it?

[@ajinoz1234]

I have the same problem@@henrikgcarlsson

[@Electronieks]

I let it count on each flip instead of eacj second flip

[@harderexp8166]

Bro good job , please create more videos + more shorts , create simpler and fun stuff and some tutorials to grow your channel very faster , is am Rostam Thank you ❤

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Thanks for the kind words. I've been planning to do simpler projects and more often, but somehow each one gets more complicated and then takes me way too long to finish :p

[@JamesMossR33]

Great project I can't wait to build, but the .3mf files I donated for are for the PCB version I think (can't see this version in your store?). I don't use Fusion360 so I'm just looking for stl/3mf files for this project. Thanks.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Very strange.. I double-checked and everything seems to be in order. Can you tell me the name of the file you downloaded?

[@JamesMossR33]

​@@SmartSolutionsForHome Hmm, thought I'd replied but guess not, the only non-Fusion360 file I could find was 'SS4H-RG-Case-v.-1.1'. No worries, I've jumped into Fusion360 (I'm an OnShape user) and have exported the .stl files and printed them. My unit is working really well (except the flip count never goes back to 0 so for my hourly stats it's always 0.5mm with no rain, but I'll figure that out). Thanks for your awesome projects they're incredibly well designed!

[@ottosboyen]

Supernice Soulution ! Thank you !

[@saschatrumm2852]

Sadley the files do not arrive from your Website to this project

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

Perhaps my email ended up in your spam folder? Reach out to me at: [e-mail], and I'll try to assist you.

[@saschatrumm2852]

@@SmartSolutionsForHomethank you for your rsponse. There is no Spam folder with the email address. I`ll write you an email to your contact. BR Sascha

[@saschatrumm2852]

What a kind guy. Thank you Sebastian. He send me the Link to the files after I send a mail to him.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

@@saschatrumm2852 I'm delighted I could help. :)

[@MrCBRXX1100]

Hi Sebastian :) First of all - very great project - you are a genius;) BUT Are you sure your calculation method Is correct? I have calibrated mine with 5 ml per bucket side. When I pour 1 liter of water through the funnel it says roughly 180 mm rain. BUT - should 1 liter not give 1mm rain ??

[@matejudo]

1mm of rain equals 1 liter across 1m². Since you poured 1 liter into a funnel with a surface much much smaller than 1m², you need to multiply by the size factor, in your case 180. So by pouring 1l into the funnel, that is the equivalent of 180 liters of rainfall across 1m².

[@hamzahamid8549]

Thank you sir 🙏✨

[@Tntdruid]

Missing the HA code.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

It's in the video :) But you're right, it's missing in the article... I'll fix that ASAP.

[@Tntdruid]

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Thanks 👍

[@marijn1818]

@@SmartSolutionsForHome The sensor is on it's way from ali and the filament roll is shrinking.. ;-) Now waiting for the HA code... nice video and nice tutorial.

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

@@marijn1818 Share your impressions once you have the device up and running. :)

[@SmartSolutionsForHome]

I won't be able to update the article for the next 7 days, so I'll try to address it here briefly: All of this needs to be entered in the "configuration.yaml" Replace XXX with the name of your Door Sensor. This is an example for the last 24 hours. If you want a different time range, you'll need to duplicate this and adjust the time: sensor: - platform: history_stats name: "Aqara Rainsensor flips/on" entity_id: binary_sensor.XXX state: "on" type: count start: "{{ now() - timedelta(hours=24)}}" end: "{{ now() }}" - platform: history_stats name: "Aqara Rainsensor flips/off" entity_id: binary_sensor.XXX state: "off" type: count start: "{{ now() - timedelta(hours=24)}}" end: "{{ now() }}" template: - sensor: - name: Aqara Rainfall state_class: total_increasing unique_id: aqara_rainfall state: >- {% set count = (states('sensor.aqara_rainsensor_flips_on') | int(0)) + (states('sensor.aqara_rainsensor_flips_off') | int(0)) %} {% set mm = count * 0.52615 %} {% if count >= 0 %} {{ mm|round(1, 'floor') }} {% endif %}

[@marine1718]

Nice my friend